Techies at work to prevent Vatican leaks

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Technicians were at work on Thursday on the roofs of the Vatican
and inside the Sistine Chapel to protect the secrecy of the first
papal conclave of the digital age, while preserving historical
aspects of the vote.

Their deadline is Monday, when 115 cardinal electors under the
age of 80 - two have had to drop out because of ill health - are to
gather in the Sistine Chapel to begin voting for the next pope.

Not only the media but many world leaders are keen to learn what
is happening behind the impenetrable walls of the Vatican.

The late Pope John Paul II foresaw the intense media interest in
the election, having participated in the two conclaves of 1978 -
his predecessor John Paul I served only 33 days.

The late pope drew up new electoral rules in 1996 in order to
protect the cardinals from any threat to their independence and
free judgment.

John Paul II formally banned the introduction or use of any
recording or transmitting devices in the conclave quarters.

In December 2002, Ferdinando Imposito, a judge in charge of
several anti-Mafia and anti-terrorism investigations, recalled that
microphones had allegedly been installed in the Vatican and even in
the papal apartments by the Stasi, the secret service of the former
communist East Germany.

The Turin daily La Stampa said the Vatican has long been
protected by electromagnetic interference to prevent eavesdropping
with directional microphones. Another report said that experts have
also installed protection against laser devices that can
reconstruct conversations from the vibrations of windowpanes.

La Stampa said an American-made system has been selected
to provide a scrambling system to protect the Santa Martha
residence where the cardinals will stay between voting sessions,
and to prevent all mobile telephone calls.

That includes calls out, in case any of the prelates defy the
ban on taking phones into the conclave.

While the Vatican has turned to modern technology to protect
conclave secrecy, it is sticking to its traditional way of
announcing the new pope -- with white smoke from a chimney high
above the Sistine Chapel as the ballot papers are burned in an
ancient stove.

The Vatican announced the death of John Paul II by e-mail
messages to news agencies and text messages to correspondents' cell
phones. But these methods approved by the late pope will not be
used to inform journalists of the election of his successor.

The smoke signals, however, are of only approximate accuracy, as
shown by the election of John Paul II in 1978.

On the evening of Sunday, October 15, a huge round of applause
arose from about 100,000 people gathered in Saint Peter's Square in
expectation of the vote. The smoke looked white, but, while
journalists on deadline risked heart seizure, Vatican Radio
insisted that it was black, meaning that a new pontiff still had
not been elected.

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano rushed out a
special edition to confirm that the smoke was black.

The Vatican was doing what it could to ensure that the chimney
clearly indicated white or black, with the help of smoke canisters
supplied by the Italian air force and coloring agents.

But to be on the safe side this time around, it has decided to
back up the white smoke signal with a peal of bells from Saint
Peter's Basilica.

"That way the journalists will be sure," said Archbishop Piero
Marini, the Vatican's master of liturgial ceremonies.

John Paul II was elected on the third day of the conclave after
eight rounds of voting.